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St. John's IceCaps
The St. John's IceCaps were a team in the American Hockey League. They were the top affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets and the easternmost team in the league. The original version of the team returned to Winnipeg and became the Manitoba Moose. The second team moved to Quebec and became the Laval Rocket. History Winnipeg Jets franchise (2011–2015) The franchise was founded in 1994 as the Minnesota Moose (who at that time) were members of the International Hockey League. The team played two seasons in St. Paul, Minnesota before relocating to Winnipeg in 1996 following the departure of the original Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix, Arizona. The Manitoba Moose continued to play in the IHL until the league folded in 2001, at which time the Moose joined the AHL and became the top affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks. During their ten years in the AHL, the Moose made it to the Calder Cup Finals once, in 2009, losing 4–2 to the Hershey Bears in the best-of-seven series. In May of 2011, True North Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Moose franchise, purchased the Atlanta Thrashers' NHL franchise and relocated the team to Winnipeg for the 2011–12 NHL season. With True North owning both a NHL and AHL franchise, they ended their AHL affiliation with the Canucks The Canucks would affiliate with the Thrashers' former AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. With the return of the NHL to Winnipeg, a new home was needed for the Moose and a deal was reached with former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams to relocate the AHL team to St. John's for the 2011–12 season. The AHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the franchise's relocation to St. John's on June 20, 2011. Later that day, Williams and True North Senior Vice President Craig Heisinger held an event at Mile One Centre officially announcing the relocation of the Manitoba Moose to St. John's. At the same time, True North made the new St. John's team the top affiliate of its new NHL team. Coincidentally, the nearby community of Conception Bay South had been awarded the Kraft Hockeyville exhibition game for 2011, which would have featured the Winnipeg Jets facing the Ottawa Senators. Because of the proximity of Conception Bay South to St. John's, the game between the Senators & the Jets was relocated to the Mile One Centre to accommodate larger crowds; this would be the first IceCaps-related game as many of the Jets players were prospects who would be assigned to the IceCaps shortly after. The de facto home Jets defeated the Senators, 3–1. The IceCaps played their inaugural game on October 7, 2011 in Providence, Rhode Island against the Providence Bruins. Their first home game was on October 14, 2011 against the Hamilton Bulldogs. In their inaugural season, the IceCaps finished first in Atlantic division and reached the Eastern Conference Championship series, falling in four games to the eventual Calder Cup Champion Norfolk Admirals. After missing the playoffs in the 2012–13 season, the IceCaps would finish 2013–14 in second place in the Atlantic Division (46-23-2-5, 99 pts) and would return to the playoffs by earning the fourth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. The IceCaps defeated the Albany Devils 3 games to 1 in the conference quarterfinals and the Norfolk Admirals 4 games to 2 in the conference semifinals. On June 3, 2014, with a 5-0 victory over the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Championship series, the IceCaps claimed the Richard Canning Trophy as Eastern Conference champions and advanced to the Calder Cup Finals for the first time since relocating to Newfoundland from Manitoba. This marked the second time that St. John's would be represented in the AHL Championship series and the first since the St. John's Maple Leafs advanced to the 1992 Calder Cup Finals against the Adirondack Red Wings. The IceCaps would be defeated in five games by the Western Conference Champion Texas Stars. Montreal Canadiens franchise (2015–2017) In January of 2014, True North Sports and Entertainment chairman Mark Chipman confirmed that the organization was exploring plans to relocate their AHL franchise to Thunder Bay, Ontario after the current lease with Danny Williams' group expired in 2015. Although the IceCaps were a financial success, the geographical location of St. John's has presented significant travel difficulties for Jets' personnel. Williams stated that he would try to find another team to bring to Newfoundland should the IceCaps leave. In September of 2014, True North and Williams' group agreed to extend their agreement through the 2015–16 season; however, a year later, a deal was made between Williams, True North & the Montreal Canadiens for the Hamilton Bulldogs franchise to move to Newfoundland for the 2015–16 season after the Moose franchise moved back to Winnipeg. Upon the move, the Bulldogs assumed the "IceCaps" moniker, whose trademark remained with Williams' group; this deal was expected to be temporary as the Canadiens (like the Jets) owned their AHL franchise license and had plans to locate their team closer to their NHL club. In July of 2016, the Canadiens confirmed the relocation to the newly constructed Place Bell arena in Laval, Quebec, for the start of the 2017–18 season. Danny Williams stated his intentions to find another franchise with the AHL or another league. In 2018, the ECHL approved the expansion Newfoundland Growlers in St. John's for the 2018–19 season as a replacement for the IceCaps in the market. Affiliation History * 2011-2015: Winnipeg Jets * 2015-2017: Montreal Canadiens Facts * Location: St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador * Arena: Mile One Centre Category:Former AHL teams Category:Teams in Newfoundland and Labrador Category:Teams in St. John's